I just discovered a game called "What If ?", played on some of the other game boards. The concept is simple and fun. You answer the hypothetical scenario proposed by the person before you, and then ask your own question. They don't have to be connected, although if you wanted to create your own alternate reality, something that would work especially well with "Heroes", through a series of posts with other people, we could).

I like to start in the beginning, so I'll start with a hypothetical as far back as I currently know (knowing nothing much yet about Hiro's adventures in feudal Japan, that is)...

What if "Austin" Linderman and "Dallas" Petrelli had both been killed in the initial hail of bullets back in Vietnam ?

I think I'll like this game.

So if Linderman and Petrelli had been killed, the OWI that forms would not be as organized and subtle. This OWI operates in the open and chooses to work for short term gain by commiting crimes such as robbery and murder. This sets off a public "super" witchhunt like the one in Five Years Gone, putting all of our beloved heroes in jail by the time they are 13. Sort of depressing, but hey, I liked Linderman.

What if Jessica had survived to adulthood?

If Jessica had survived to adulthood... then I guess Niki might not have developed an alternate personality. My thinking is that Hal first picked on Jessica mostly (or Jessica shielded her sister), and after Jessica died, ikiN developed to shield Niki. Niki wouldn't have an issue with mirrors, wouldn't have set D.L.'s crew up, and probably would be doing fine. Unless those thugs showed up anyway, at which point, Niki does her own ass-kicking.

What if... rather than dumping her, Nathan had married Meredith, and the two had raised Claire in New York (it was sufficiently long ago that Nathan probably wasn't married at the time)

Claire would've been raised in Manhattan high society and become a spoiled brat. And somehow, "save the debutante, save the world" doesn't have the same ring to it.

What if Mohinder hadn't come to New York?

He'd be working for Mira in yet another mysterious organization connected to specials, and attracting a different set of evil people. Dale and Isaac would still be alive (aww, poor Mo and his innocent guilt), but Molly would probably be dead. Mohinder and Sylar would never have met one another and formed their destructive yet oh-so-hot bond. Sylar would never have had a single pang of guilt or a return of normal feeling before going even further off the deep end.

Plus (now, this is really confusing, so hopefully this will make sense), I don't think Mohinder not coming to New York would have affected the bomb going off in the future and Sylar killing Nathan. In addition to not meeting Sylar, Mohinder would never have met Nathan. So he wouldn't have been the one to be President Sylathan's special advisor, so he wouldn't have been there in the future to find Isaac's last comic and save Hiro so that he could go back in time and stab Sylar, thereby keeping him from continuing to goad Peter towards explosion or somehow interfering once Nathan arrived.

What if Peter hadn't happened to see Claude and get sidetracked from his plan to run away to Nevada once he woke up from the coma?

Peter would have gone to Nevada, and remained there for the duration of the show. Sprague would never have left New York, and could well have evaded the FBI with Bennet's assistance. Sprague might have nearly gone boom, but I imagine Claire would have fewer problems shooting him. Sylar loses out.

What if... Brian Davis had died in a car crash on his way to meet Sylar?

Gabriel (not Sylar) would have studied specials just as obsessively, but substantially less murderously. He quickly becomes a conspiracy theorist, appearing on the show as a disembodied entity on the internet for most of the season (username: Sylar) trying to either prove or disprove Suresh's theories. Mohinder tracks him down from his father's list, enlists his assistance in stopping the bomb, and then they have lots of hot sex.

The Big Bad of the season becomes the OWI and by extension, Mr. Bennet. He has no redeeming "Company Man"-esque episode, and continues to work for Thompson (who survives) through the finale. Without Sylar to work against, most of the other specials never cross paths, and when they do, they're invariably against one another. Half the main cast end up with little hatch-marks on their necks by the end of the season.


What if . . . Mohinder had shown no interest in chasing his father's theories halfway around the world and stayed in India?

I think the OWI would still see him as a person of interest, because of his father's work. He would have been drafted into OWI India branch, bagging and tagging specials of that area. He slowly starts to realize that OWI is not as beneficial as he was lead to believe, and gets an "Early Retirement" so to speak.

What if Bennet hadn't shot Claude?

Bennet wouldn't have been so surprised when he learned that Peter was invisible.

What if... Peter had died when Nathan dropped him in the first episode?

Ressurection time!

If Peter had died:
Future Hiro would have been unable to deliver his 'save the cheerleader, save the world' message to Peter. Since visiting Present Hiro would cause a rift in the space-time continuum, Nathan doesn't care about this stuff, Isaac's not strong enough, and Matt's an idiot, he would have gone to the only other person capable of stopping Sylar - the Haitian. The Haitian would have shown up at homecoming, and Sylar would have been captured. Claire and the Haitian would have become allies, and Zach would not have been mind-wiped (though I doubt Claire would object to mind-wiping her brother). Claire would have left the country with the Haitian after Company Man, and might have been absent during the season finale.

Sprague would never have tried to leave New York. Bennet would have informed him of Sylar, so when Sylar came to collect Sprague's power, Sylar would have ended up Extra Crispy.

What if... when Sylar attacked Jackie, she had kicked him in the balls, and she and Claire had beaten him to death?

They would be arrested for murder and locked away. Bennet would try getting Claire out, but when she got shivved during a riot and everyone saw she had healing abilities, OWI abducted her and dissected her for science. Jackie tried escaping from prison, but while climbing over the fence she fell and broke her neck. Her body would be eaten by wild animals before it could be discovered.

What if Mohinder never found out "Zane" was really Sylar?

Taking the list from Mohinder, Sylar makes his visit to Isaac a day earlier, with the same results. The next name in New York, just 4 down from Isaac's is... Nathan Petrelli. Sylar heads to Nathan's campaign HQ to sign up as a volunteer, meeting him soon after, when Nathan returns from his trip to see Linderman in Las Vegas. Later that night, not knowing what Nathan's power is, he chooses the alley behind the HQ as the scene of the de-braining of Nathan. Because Nathan's *only* power is flight, he takes a different approach from Peter (who used other powers in his two battles with Sylar), and leaps into flight... with Sylar grabbing a hold of his leg. Sylar soon finds himself 800 feet above Manhattan, and Nathan, unable to carry Sylar's weight (the only time we've seen Nathan carrying someone in flight was Peter, who can fly himself), goes into an out of control tailspin... knocking Sylar loose and to his death.

Peter, however, still thinks that he is the cause of the Big Bad Bomb. When Bennett, Matt and Ted arrive in New York, they go through with their plan to hide out in a small town in Nebraska. A week goes by, and no big bad bomb happens, but Peter, ever the hero decides that if they ever do return to New York, it's only a matter of time before either he or Ted explode. So, Peter settles down in Nebraska for a quiet life as a nurse, and Ted picks a similarly remote town in Montana and does the same.

What if... Nathan and Peter's powers had been reversed ?

The Amazing Flying Peter would have used his power for the reason God intended: impressing attractive women. As his power is less versatile, we'd only see him occasionally as he tries to fight crime.

Nathan would have a marginally better control over his powers by virtue of coming into contact with fewer specials. He would be considerably less dismissive of Mohinder when he shows up, and is only slightly above freezing time in the middle of a debate to mess up his opponent's hair. When the visions of doom start, He's tempted to quit the senate race and take his family somewhere boring and uninhabited, but Mama Petrelli won't let him. He spends the rest of his life overmedicated on whatever power inhibitor he can get his hands on.

What if the Nathan hadn't arrived in time to get the Amazing Exploding Peter out of New York in the finale?

HRG would take the gun out of Claire's hands and shoot Peter himself. To his horror, he would find out that the bullet has the opposite effect, and Peter explodes anyway (hey, he should know better after Thompson). All our heroes die, with the exception of Hiro, who gets his own spinoff series, named "Yatta!".

What if Sylar was Claire's biological father?

The logical way for Sylar to be Claire's father is if Gabriel Gray had met Meredith Gordon ages ago. I doubt Gabriel would have abandoned Meredith - after all, he got lucky with her, does he think he'll find another woman? Meredith moves back to New York with Gabriel to raise their daughter, Claire Gray.

Chandra Suresh shows up several years later. He informs the Grays that all three of them are special. Gabriel applies his intuition to helping Chandra with his research. The OWI shows up to bag and tag the Gray family, but they discover that a) Gabriel isn't home, and b) bagging and tagging a pyrokinetic woman and her invincible daughter who has grown up in New York is easier said than done. Thus begins the conflict between the OWI and the Grays.

Gabriel never does become Sylar, per se. HOWEVER, he does gain others' powers - by analyzing the results of MRIs. Many of the heroes undergo MRIs with Gabriel and Chandra's assistance, so Gabriel gains many powers (including those of his wife and daughter). The OWI becomes the big baddie of the show, and Gabriel leads the heroes to take them down.

Hmm. This would make a pretty good fanfic, actually.

What if... Bennet had been killed when he tried to bag Meredith, and Claude had adopted Claire?

OK, I'll do this one myself.

Once the word got out that Claude was hiding heroes, he would have taken Claire and ran. Claude would have found a new life elsewhere, and would have protected Claire like a tiger. Claire Rains would not have a whole lot in common with Claire Bennet - the key being an unstable life. Ironically, she would have more easily accepted her powers.

Incidentally, Claude would never have encountered Peter, so Peter would have ended up in Nevada. I also doubt that there would have been a "Save the cheerleader, save the world" storyline, as Sylar would have never been able to find Claire. Hiro would have killed Sylar and ended Season 1.

What if... Brody had successfully raped Claire?

As much as I'd like to see Brody in prison fully aware of his crime, Bennet probably would have killed him outright and then had the Haitian erase Claire's memory of the event and have everyone think Brody just 'disappeared.' Jackie would have been (slightly) less hateful toward Claire, and then Peter would have had to save two cheerleaders at Homecoming.

What if... Hiro had taken up the identity of Takezo Kensei permanently instead of forcing the drunk English guy to become the hero of legend?

To tell the truth? Not a whole lot would have changed. Hiro would have tried to keep to the legend as much as possible. Depending on how long Takezo Kensei lived according to legend, by the time Hiro got back, he could very well be in his late thirties/early forties.

What if... the OWI had never encountered the Haitian?

Mrs. Bennett would have been killed for knowing too much, and sadly there'd be no Mr. Muggles on the show. Claire would have eventually learned her mom was killed because of her dad's work and ended up despising him. Many more people with powers would remember Noah because their memories weren't erased, and they'd all be pissed at him. He'd be killed, but not before killing Brody (I don't see Noah letting him live after the attack if he couldn't use the memory wipe as a punishment). Claire be taken in by her grandmother and introduced to the rest of the family, including her half siblings and their (displeased) mother.

Claire would run away from her grandmother. Nathan would get a divorce sooner. Given how he seems to handle stress, he wouldn't be there when it was time for Peter to go boom. Many would die, including Nathan. Peter would live though. So would Claire. Sylar would live because he's Sylar and apparently, nothing kills the guy.

In Mexico the twins would make it to America (in time), but since Mohinder blew up when Peter went boom, no one could help. The male twin (their names are escaping me for the moment) would die from taking in too much of the oiled tears. The female twin would get really upset for killing her brother. She'd cry until everyone in the world but her, Claire, and Sylar (becuase he's Sylar) died. Both female would end up going insane from the isolation. Sylar would eventually find them and eat their brains. Then he'd go insane because there aren't anymore human brains to eat.

Cockroaches would inherit the Earth.

What if Mohinder's sister never got sick?

Mohinder wouldn't have been conceived, therefore he wouldn't have been born. Chandra would have stayed in India and not written that book about specials. However, if Shanti turned out to be 'special', then Chandra may have continued his research. But, since Shanti had powers, he would not have needed Gabriel Gray. Gabriel would have continued to be a watchmaker until Peter blew up and took that half of NYC with him. Bennet, Parkman, and Ted would probably have tried to take down OWI anyway. All three of them would have died in the explosion. The company would then get Claire and 'push her to her limits'.
In short, it would suck.

What if... Claire had died in the fire when she was a baby?

The original timeline - where Sylar killed Claire (it was changed when Hiro told Peter to save the Cheerleader) - would have continued right until the point where Hiro stabbed Sylar. Without Claire's power, Sylar would have died, or at least been incapacitated. In fact, season 1 would have focused chiefly on Sylar and Hiro, with the OWI getting relatively little screentime.

What if... Papa Petrelli had been the sole survivor of the mission in Vietnam (ie, Linderman had died as well)?

The council of 12 Elder Heroes never would have formed. Or actually, never formed in the past. Season 1 would have centered on half the heroes trying to form the Justice League and the other half thinking they're strange.

What if ... Derek and the twins hadn't found Sylar on the highway?

They would have run over him with the Rogue. Nissan then sues Tim Kring for implying that being run over by Nissan products are dangerous, and Heroes is now cancelled.

I wish Niki (but not Jessica) became immortal.

That's not a "what if?"

What if... Bennet had turned Claire in as soon as he found the tapes?

Bennett would have worked a deal where, after the initial poking and prodding, Claire could stay alive, since she cooperated with them, and was willing to work for them. Claire, however, has other plans...

Meanwhile, Mystery Sock, Hiro and Pete are directed not to Texas by the paintings, but to a cheerleader in... southern California.
On her first assignment, undercover with her family in California to bring in a teenager who got away from them the first time, Claire falls in love... and she and West both get targeted for being taken out by the OWI. The timing, however, is serendipitous, as the OWI's discovery of her betrayal times in perfectly with both Sylar's arrival in California, and Peter/Hiro/Ando, attempting to stop him. The result is a "mexican showdown" between Thompson trying to kill Claire, Sylar trying to save Claire (so he can chomp on her brains), and Peter/Hiro trying to stop both of them. Being around that many powers at once weakens Peter, but his collapse provides enough of a distraction that Hiro is able to stop time, and whisk Claire out of there. West, however, is not so lucky... Sylar knocks out Thompson, chomps down on West, and flees, now able to travel across the country at high speed, he's harder to catch than ever.

Meanwhile, back in Texas, Charlie is fine and happy because Sylar's travel never took him there, but she also never fell in love with Hiro, because he didn't either. Eventually, however, she is approached by the OWI, who see great promise in her power. With total memory and cognitive ability, she'd be the perfect spy.

Soon after all this, Hiro receives a message from Hana, who relishes the idea of helping the daughter that HRG betrayed. With the newly recruited Ted, Hiro and Claire, plus Peter and Parkman who she eventually recruits as well, Hana now has a team that can realize what she wasn't able to on the show... the destruction of the OWI.

What if... Claire had been born a boy ?

While trying to do this 'what if' my brain refused to do anything except switch Claire and Zach. So now we have Zach, who's dealing with his new superpower and talent for pulling people out of burning trains. A teenage boy in street clothes is a lot less distinctive than a blonde in a specific school's cheerleader uniform, which makes identifying the hero of the day a lot harder. Without the celebratory news article, Sylar has nothing to draw him to Homecoming in Odessa. No heroes are drawn there from the outside, and it passes without incident.

Zach remains entertaining but very minor until his determination to track down his biological family (and the Indian geneticist who wrote that weird book...) drags him to New York shortly before the election. The fact that he's never met Peter before makes him a lot less reluctant to shoot him, especially if it mean saving the world. Don't worry, he gets better.

What if... Sylar had been the one with amnesia, and Peter lost all his powers?

Well, Sylar would have woken up in Candace's Maui illusion but recognized immediately that it was a fake, thanks to his intuition. He would have insisted that Candace explain exactly what was going on and who he was. After much wheedling, Candace would have revealed that Gabriel Gray was in fact a viscious serial killer. In horror, he would try to run away from her only to find himself in a labyrinth of illusions. However, thanks again to his intuition (and advanced hearing) he'd have a vague sense of what was real and what was not, and in his stress he would radiate like crazy and his other powers would come out, eventually killing Candace accidentally. Horrified, Gabriel would take to the road...
He'd meet with Maya and Alejandro and Derek in the Nissan Rouge. When Derek saw the Wanted Poster, Gabriel would attack him and kill him accidentally in an effort to protect Maya, whose vulnerability and innate sweetness attract him to her -- in a sort of obligatory way, like "This is the kind of girl my mother would like for me" feeling (even though Gabriel can't remember his mother.) He would have hidden the fact of his discovery of Maya and Alejandro's fugitive status from them, so he would have no idea of thier powers. Maya thinks she may be falling in love with the dark-eyed American to whom the name of "Doctor Suresh" sounds mighty, mighty familiar. Alejandro is willing to bring him along -- until he finds that Gabriel has killed a dog and cut open its head in order to study its brain -- and he can give no explanation.

In Ireland, Ricky would have nothing to hold over Peter's head, therefore Pete would leave the Irish pub, though finding him drawn back and again to Caitlin. Peter tries to confide in Caitlin about his abilities, but she doesn't quite believe him. Peter is rather scared that his abilities aren't manifesting, and Caitlin has to come to his rescue when he tries to fly off a one-foot bluff, or bruise his fingers because he believes he'll heal. She thinks he's insane, although a complete sweetheart. Elle would not kill Ricky. Peter would know immediately why to go to Montreal, and he would ask Caitlin to come with him, but she would refuse. At the airport he would be ready to go when Caitlin would show up anyway, because (this is television, after all) she says "someone's got to keep you from killing yourself, luv."

What if... Hiro had only knocked the arrows heading for Kensei out of the way instead of teleporting Kensei hours later, which resulted in the destruction of Otsu?

History would have proceeded normally - Kensei would have saved Otsu. Hiro would have returned to the present within an episode or two.

What if... Dale Smithers had heard Sylar's approach, and laid a trap for him, resulting in Sylar's decapitation by power saw?

At first, Mohinder would mourn the loss of his new road trip buddy, possibly thinking that Dale was Sylar. After realizing that the real Zane had died three days before, he would bring his search for heroes to a screeching halt. Way too crazy. Mohinder would have a hard time trusting anyone with a power ever again, so the House of M would not exist.

Without Sylar to provoke him into exploding in Kirby Plaza, Peter and Ted would retreat to the middle of nowhere to get their abilities under control. The eventual explosion would be upsetting, but not life-threatening to anyone who isn't radioactive.

What if... the Company had found Gabriel Gray before Chandra Suresh did?

The Company would have worked with Gabriel so that both of their ends could be met: they would provide him access to braaainnnsss of the people they want eliminated anyway, and he would become a new agent for the OWI.

Meanwhile, Chandra would be continuing his research in New York, but now, instead of Mohinder, it would be Chandra that was approached by HRG and Thompson about working with the OWI. Reluctant at first, they mildly blackmail Chandra in joining their company by threatening Mohinder, but they also sugar coat it, and so he agrees.

Chandra's new partner during his field work... a young recruit named Gabriel Gray. Gabriel's path follows a similar one as his as Sylar, as Chandra and he go to Los Angeles to investigate a man with radioactive powers, but when they get there, they discover that he is in FBI custody. Gabriel convinces Chandra that they need to free him, and so using Gabriel's TK powers, they break in... but Ted's anger about being abducted by someone *else* leads to an explosion that Gabriel is able to protect himself from (by TKing a door/wall in front of himself, but... Chandra dies.

Soon after, Bob goes to India where he tells Mohinder what great work Chandra was able to accomplish during his short time with the OWI, but now it is his turn to continue his father's work... and he introduces him to his new partner, Gabriel Gray. Sylinder Ho Yay lives on as it was meant to !

What if... Angela Petrelli had left her husband back in the 70s to marry Kaito Nakamura ?

DAMMIT! I had nearly completed a long and complicated post when I accidentally hit the back button! OK, take #2:

Peter and Hiro are never born, and their powers are not part of the storyline. Nathan IS born, however, since he was born before the 1970s. Nathan merries Meredith after Angela suggests that he not do so, and Claire is raised in New York. The original cast does not include Peter and Hiro (obviously), but Meredith is included. Noah Bennet does not play a major role either, working solely for the Company. Nathan gets a lot more screentime, as does Isaac - in fact, Isaac inherits Peter's role of unifying the Heroes. Ted Sprague is also a main character, and we find out about him before Matt and Audrey do.

Isaac doesn't connect Claire to saving the world at first. But he does identify her in his paintings as the pretty daughter of Nathan Petrelli. Ominously, one of the paintings shows Nathan weeping over a casket. Isaac warns Nathan that Sylar is after Claire. Nathan beefs up Claire's security detail. The episode "Sacrifice" (the equivalent of "Homecoming") works differently - Claire's security detail sacrifice their lives (literally) to delay Sylar and save Claire's life. At their funeral, Nathan weeps over the bodies of the men who saved his daughter. Isaac returns to New York to find Claire in his studio, who wants to thank him personally. Isaac is happy to see her, and not just because she is alive - he painted a picture of several people meeting, and one of them looks like Claire. He becomes convinced to bring this meeting about.

The meeting occurs a few episodes later, resulting in the formation of a "League of Heroes" of sorts, once Mohinder shows up and brings his list into play. As a cover, they form the Chandra Suresh Foundation, simply called the Foundation, which does research into human evolution. Nathan exploits this for political gain by declaring that he will support cutting-edge scientific research. He combines this with a call for increased science education in schools, for which Claire is the poster child. In short, Nathan not only stands for family values, but for science. He spins it well enough that nobody notices that the group he's supporting has only one researcher (though Mohinder's credentials are quite strong).

For security and financial reasons, Nathan donates part of the Petrelli estate on Nantucket to Mohinder as lab space. The Petrellis take a vacation to Nantucket to get Mohinder set up - and so nobody wonders where Nathan and Claire are while they fly around finding people on the List - and recruiting them into the Foundation. Some join, but Dale Smithers is the most important - her super-hearing gives the Foundation an early warning system in New York should Sylar return (she familiarizes herself with Sylar's voice from Mohinder's tapes).

The Company decides, after a while, that while they have resources, they need the Foundation and the list. As part of their "cooperation," Linderman publicly donates $2 million to the Foundation, and allows Molly to be placed under their care (though she remains in New York). Mohinder doesn't give Molly his blood, however - he gives her Claire's, since the regenerative properties of Claire's blood have been discovered. Claire and Molly become fast friends.

Ted is captured outside New York, only to be killed by Sylar. Matt and HRG move in nonetheless, heading straight for Molly. They shoot Thompson (whom Claire thought was a creep anyway), but when they find Molly, Claire is using her body to cover Molly. Parkman recognizes Molly, and the standoff ends with Claire ordering HRG and Matt to take care of the body. I should note that Claire and HRG NEVER get along.

While HRG and Claire are not getting along, Claire's phone rings. It's Dale - Sylar is in town. Molly pins down Sylar's location, and they find a dead body, which HRG identifies as Claude's. Sylar has invisibility now.

In the final scene, everyone prepares for the Battle of Kirby Plaza - Sylar vs. the Foundation (including new recruits D.L. Hawkins, Niki Sanders, and Micah Sanders - D.L. is healed via an application of Claire's blood). Unlike the actual finale, the Foundation has lead-time. Micah, Molly, Isaac, D.L., and all of the non-powered people get out of town. Sylar shows up, and the final battle begins. Unfortunately, Sylar is way too powerful for any of them. He counters Meredith's flames with his ice, stops bullets, and hurls away Niki before she can get close enough. Sylar closes in on Claire, and begins to slice open her skull. But before he can kill her, Sylar is shot. See, Sylar is invisible, but Dale can locate a person by sound, especially if their heart is beating as hard as Sylar's. She shoots Sylar, wounding him badly enough that he loses control of his invisibility. Then he loses control of his radiation, similar to Ted in "Company Man." It also ends similarly, except Claire uses a gun rather than a tranquilizer. Sylar dies, and the Foundation is victorious.

That took a while.

What if... West had no memory of his abduction at all?

...Wow.

Um, right. Claire and West never have that big argument about HRG, and HRG believes Mohinder about West being on the fifth avenue or something. Mohinder and Elle kill HRG - but will they revive him with Claire's blood? Dun dun dun!

What if... Mohinder visited Charlie and Niki instead of Zane and Dale?

After meeting Charlie and Niki, Mohinder would come up with a theory that all superpowers are accompanied by something undesirable - a clot in the brain, MPD, Isaac's addiction, Sylar's psychosis, and so on. When approached by the Company, he'd be a lot more willing to develop a cure for all abilities, not just the nominally dangerous ones. He, not Bob or anyone else, would be Bennet's main antagonist when he tried to take down the Company.

What if... Nathan hadn't been shot until after he had presented actual proof of his ability to fly?

The crowd would stare at him like he was joking. Then he'd be shot. Then we'd see Sylar and the spinach can, and we won't find out what happens next thanks to the DAMN STRIKE.

What if Elle was responsible for taking care of Sylar, and Candice was responsible for looking for Peter in Oireland?

Sylar actually would make out with Elle and plot to take over the world, giving Sylar and Elle good story lines, never having to introduce the wondertwins. Bob ends up killing Candice after she fails to bring Peter back.

What if Peter actually did fall for Elle?

Instead of angsting over leaving Caitlin in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, Peter would spend half the season angsting over the conflict between loyalty to Elle and her father for saving him and his belief that he and Adam need to destroy the Shanti virus and the Company, with the same ultimate result. Except with a lot of shouting "She's not a sociopath! She's just misunderstood!"

What if HRG hadn't been revived with the heal-anything blood after being shot?

Claire would have tried to go public with her powers, but instead of being shot in public at a press conference (a bit more shocking with a teenage cheerleader than an already-dodgy politician with mob connections), she'd have been shot straight through the head on her way there. Then Lyle decides to go public in secret anyway, and ends up joining up with the Petrellis, who cancelled their own press conference after hearing about Claire, and becomes a big damn hero.

What if HRG hadn't tracked down Claude, and so he hadn't been tasered on the Superroof?

I don't have a follow up for the Claude/Bennett question, so that one is still waiting to get answered... but I just wanted to post (belatedly, admittedly) to congratulate Meshakhad for such an awesome response to my "Angela Nakamura" question !

Plaude fans are briefly disappointed when there is no Peter/Claude flight o' lurve, but then infinitely pleased to find their pairing is sticking together for the rest of the season!

Meanwhile

Not distracted by tracking down Claude, HRG investigates his daughter's lie about the Manatee roadtrip - and finds out that Claire was tracking down a super of her own: her supermom. Claire is one step ahead of him and after fleeing to Kermit, she convinces Meredith to take her to Mehico. HRG can't risk following them without drawing the attention of the OWI, so he lets them go.

In order to keep Sandra from becoming suspicious, he fakes a letter in Claire's handwriting about her eloping to Mexico (to portray her illicit boyfriend, HRG chooses a random male Super named West from old OWI files). Sandra buys it, but Lyle becomes suspicious and teams up with Zach to investigate. They find out everything about Primatech, Thompson and HRG's real job, and discover diaries Claire wrote detailing her ordeal at homecoming plus everything she knew about the Haitian. The two boys decide Claire's "elopement" probably means she has been taken by the OWI or killed.

Before they can confront HRG, Ted and Matt make their big bust on the Bennet house and without Claire to take the bullet, Sandra is killed. HRG becomes insane with rage and attacks Ted. Lyle escapes with Mr Muggles just before the entire house goes up in an inferno, killing all inside.

Lyle is now completely alone, carrying with him only Mr Muggles and enormous knowledge about the OWI. Zach, the OWI, the police and everyone else in Odessa thinks he has died in the Ted!splosion, and he does not correct them.

A law unto himself, Lyle Bennet vows to spend the rest of his life finding supers and protecting them from the OWI.

The second volume is called "Lylerations" and focuses mainly on him hitching his way to NY, meeting various Supers along the way, including an episode in which he roadtrips with Sylar and Mohinder. At last, Lyle finds Congressman Petrelli and stalks Angela long enough to discover Claire's relation to them. But just after Lyle reaches NY, the writers' strike cuts the season short. The finale - "PowerLyle" - is re-written to include Lyle attempting to expose the OWI to the world at one of Congressman Petrelli's press conferences. He is shot by an unknown assailant before he can finish his proclamation.

There is some public criticism directed at NBC about showing a 14-year-old boy being shot on primetime television. But most fans are not concerned, because they know Lyle will be back in the next volume, "VilLyles".



What if... Chandra had chosen Peter as his patient zero instead of Sylar?

Instead of asking people for samples of DNA, Chandra decides to let Peter copy their power and investigate his brain instead. One day, while in his cab, Peter loses control of his power of pyrokinesis, causing Chandra to crash into Gray’s and Son’s, killing the only worker there and a customer, Brian Davis. Peter miraculously survives due to the power of a cheerleader, and falls into a coma. While Nathan and Angela are visiting him, his brother kisses Peter on the lips, unleashing a nuclear explosion and killing everybody in the hospital, including Peter himself, Nathan, Angela, Simone and Charles, and Ted and his wife.

Virginia commits suicide when she learns of Gabriel’s death. Mohinder goes back to India to spread his father’s ashes, and the plane crashes midway, leaving him stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He joins a new show and is killed off after two episodes.

Eden, distraught at Mo’s death, refuses to work her power on Isaac and tells HRG to “go fuck yourself”. HRG complies and dies as a result of, um, you don’t want to know. Eden and the Haitian eyebleach themselves and die. Isaac starves to death in that little cell.

After HRG dies, Sandra has no man to depend on and decides to marry Mr. Muggles, who mauls her on the night of their honeymoon. Claire decides to pose as Lyle when he is beaten to death in a Tae Kwon Do accident at camp. She is finally killed when Brody decides that since he can’t have Claire, he’ll have her brother instead, but manages to impale Brody in the groin with that stake-shaped branch first. Zach decides to re-enact Claire’s experiments in her honour and is killed in the first attempt, when he jumps off the oil rig and coincidentally lands on Jackie.

Meanwhile, at the Burnt Toast Diner, Charlie is distracted by the news report of Lyle!Claire’s death, and spills hot oil all over herself a la that prevent it commercial. Hiro tries to go back in time to help her, but ends up in feudal Japan. The ninety angry ronin kills him, Yaeko, her entire family, and Kensei, whose power of spontaneous cell regeneration hasn’t manifested yet. Ando frets himself to death in modern times.

Without Sylar’s influence, Maya and Alejandro make it to New York, where they learn of Chandra’s death. There, they are captured and forcefully separated by several company agents, until Maya starts crying again and kills all of New York due to Alejandro being stuck in traffic.

Meanwhile, the destroyed cab ends up and Dale’s workshop, and she is crushed under its undercarriage when her best wrench snaps. Candice dies after that happy face mug falls off the shelf and smashes on her head. Zane dies after he liquefies his toaster and is electrocuted. In fact, all the characters are killed off - except Niki, because her storyline never connected with the main one save for the bit with the parking meter.



What if... Eden shot Sylar before he pulled her through the window?